Pallet conveyer



Sept. 29, 1931. A. o. DUPUY 1,825,447.

1 PALLET CONVEYER Filed Oct. 29. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwuentoz .1 1 M ra? 1 Sept. 29, 1931. A. o. DUPUY 1,825,447

PALLET CONVEYER Filed Oct. 29. 1929 4 h t sh 2 Sept. 29, 1931. A. o. DUPUY PALLET CONVEYER Filed Oct. 29, 1929 IIIILEU 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I III."

Qwoentoz Sept. 29, 1931. A. o. DUPUY PALLET CONVEYEI? Filed 001;. 29. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheer. 4

flrZ/zzrr 0. DLFLLZ/ Patented Sept. 29, 1931 umreo sures ARTHUR 0. nUrUY, 0E BEACON NEW YORK, Assrenon TO nnw Yonx are-x nannrime 7 PATENT OFFICE oonroanrron QF'NEW ong, n. Y.; a coBPon 'rroNoF'NEw YORK PALLET CONVEYER Application'flled October 29,1929. Serial No. 403,274.

This invention relates to conveyers and it is directed to the solution of the problem that arises wheretwo or more convergent branches of a conveyor system meet a single common or trunk conveyer. In such systems the difficulty is ordinarily encountered, that articles placed on the convergent branch conveyors frequently reach'the trunk conveyer together with the result that one or both of them are displaced or toppled from the conveyor, V i 7 The general object of the present inven? tion is the provision'of means for preventing two of the articles or objects being trans ported by the convergent conveyors reaching the common end of said conveyors at the same time. I V

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following, description of a practical and exemplary embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings, in which the same charactersof reference areemployed in the sev-' eral figures to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a system embodying the present invention, the construction in this instance being particularly designed for the transportation of. bricks in a brick manufactory. Y Figure 2 is a perspective view. of the same system with the brick carrying pallets omit ted inorder clearly to disclose theunderlying structure. I V

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the system, somewhat diagrammatically illustrated,

Figure lis a fragmentary plan View of the left hand branch conveyor. 7 a

Figure 5' is a'section'taken 'along'the line 55 of Figure 4. v v Figure 6 is a View similar to Figu're 4, but showing the right hand conveyer.

Figure 7 's a section taken along the line 77 of Figure 6. v p

Figure 8 is a'section taken along the .line 88 of Figure 7, while Figure9 is a section taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a partial side elevation of the solenoid 7 stop 6 and associated parts.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary View, being a 60 section through the stop showing-the 611* delivered to. the branch conveyors. either mam gagement with the stop of one, of; the brick ca rying p l e s! J Figure 12 is a de ai in se tion, showing one ofthe rollers carried by the common continuous flight or belt between the two branch oonveyers. I

Referring now in d tail to the se eral fig u os a d f st advorting to those genera fig ures in-which the entire layout of the system is shown, namely, igures 1, 2 and. 3, the numeral 1 represents a common trun con veyer which is fed by convergent braneh con, voyers 2 and 3, each loading from the output end o a rick, machin Palle s 4: and 5 are Ila-11y or automatica ly, asthe cas may be, and are tr nsported by the conveyors to the t unk con yo by wh ch las amed con veyor thoyare carried to the point of final disposal, n

The pallet e and 5 are delive ed. to he b anch conveyers as ast as the can. be sup pli d; by the brick ma hi es a din the sual order of e ts, unless spec a means is o vided. o prevent i pallets n each o the om veyers frequently reaCh the common ends 0f the conveyors at. he am time, with the. re su t that they di p aceone ano her even to the extent of one or bo h of he pa ets ith tsload of bricks being pushe en irely off of the oonveyer.

The Pr se t invention, as has bee st ted above, under the head of gen al objects, is to provide eans for rewrit ng the co lis on of the p lets w en tley rea h the mmon and o t e oonv yeran t esaid mean act in general by ret rd ng he prog ess o one. of a pair of pallets so pos tioned upon t e. reopen tivo conveyors that t ey WQu d co lide at he convergent end of said conveyor, so that no two palle s an er reach the s id comm end togethon I a In the. exemplary embodiment o the invention a il ustr te themea s which. have ee pro ided or this purpose are electrical y con ro ed, altho gh it is well within the pu vie ofthe in ention to provide means 7 In the present preferred embodiment of the invention, a stop 6 is provided for one of the branch conveyers. In the present instance this stop is related to the left hand branch conveyer, as viewed in the drawings. The stop 6 is operated by a solenoid 7 structurally indicated in Figure 10 and diagrammatically shown in Figure 3. The solenoid 7 when energized, projects an armature 8 which in turn contacts with a lever 9 fixed to the shaft 11 that carries the stop. In the present instance, the stop appears as a simple arm which when in active position, projects above the plane of the branch conveyer, to present an obstruction to the forward progression of the pallet.

The solenoid 7 is in series with a pair of switches 9 and 10, each consisting of the usual fixed and movable contacts. The movable contact in each of these switches projects above the working level of the respective branch conveyers and is actuated by the passage across it, of a pallet. The switches 9 and 10 are so positioned relative to the respective branch conveyors, as to be simultaneously actuated by pallets so placed upon the respective conveyors that it left alone, they would collide at the common end of the said branch conveyors. Since the switches are in series, it is essential for the operation of the solenoid. that both be closed at the same time. only one, for instance switch 9, is closed bya pallet 41: passed over it while no pallet is approaching on the other conveyer which would collide with it, then switch will not be closed at the same time as switch 9 and the circuit will remain open so that the stop will remain inactive. But if one of the pallets on the branch conveyer 2 shall be in the position for a potential collision with the pallet 5 which has just closed the switch 10, then the said pallet on the branch conveyer 2 will actuate the switch 9 while the switch 10 remains actuated, thus closing the circuit, energizing the solenoid and raising the stop 6 to its obstructive position. The pallet on the conveyer 2 will therefore be inhibited from moving forward until such time as the circuit shall be opened, which time is determined in such a manner that when the pallet on the branch conveyer 2 is finally released from the stop, the conflicting pallet 5 on the conveyer 3 will have passed beyond the point at whicha collision of the two pallets might occur. I

The lead which the pallet 5 is permitted to gain over the pallet t on the conveyer 2 while held up by the stop, is determined by constructing the switch 10 in such a manner as to cause it to remain activated through a certain duration, the value of this duration depending upon a number of factors, for instance the speed of travel of the branch conveyer or the relative speeds of the branch conveyer in the event that they travel at different rates. In the present instance the switch 10 is constructed in the form of a bar 12, best shown in Figure 7, the surface of which eXtends slightly above the Working face of the conveyer, said bar being resiliently supported in a definite elevated position. VJ hen a pallet laden with bricks reaches that region of the conveyer in which the bar 12 is located the latter will be depressed, against the tension of its spring supports. The bar carries the movable contact 13 of the switch, which when the bar is depressed, makes engagement with the fixed Contact 1 1.

On account of the length of the bar there may be some possibility in that particular type of construction shown in the drawings, of one end of the bar tipping upward when the pallet reaches the opposite end of the bar, causing a separation of the switch contacts at the elevated end. In order to prevent the circuit thus being broken during the normal closed period of the switch, a similar pair of switch contacts 15 and 16 are provided at the opposite end of the bar 12. These contacts are connected in parallel in the circuit as is clearly shown in the diagram in Figure 3, which assures that the circuit shall not be broken through tilting of the bar 12, since at least one pair of contacts is always in engagement, whilesoever any part of the bar 12 remains depressed by a pallet.

The switch 9 is arranged in such proximity to the stop 6 that when the movement of the pallet 1 has been inhibited by the stop, the pallet remains over the switch 9 ensuring that this switch shall remain closed until the pallet has been released by the falling of said stop. 3 bus, when both the switches 9 and 10 have been actuated, it is assured that the circuit will remain closed until the pallet 5 has transversed the length of the bar 12, at which time, as it has been hercinbetore stated, the pallet 5 has advanced beyond the risk of collision with the pallet 4, when it reaches the commoncnd of the branch conveyors.

The construction of switch 9 is illustrated in Figure 5, the same comprising a roller at the end of a stem 17, said stem being resiliently supported by a spring 18 in an elevated position in which the roller extends slightly above the plane of the working face of the conveyor 2, so that it will be depressed when engaged by a pallet. Figure 5 shows that the switchcontacts 19 and 20 are together when the switch is depressed. It is of course to be.understood that any form of commercial switch may be substituted for the switch herein shown by way of example, without impairing the novelty of the combination which constitutes the present invention.

One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that when a pallet 4 is held up by the stop 6 whilethe conveyer 2 is still moving, the succeeding pallet on the conveyer 2 will creep up toward the detained pallet so that a comparatively narrow space exists between them, consequently, whenthe stop is at lengthreleased through the opening of the circuitby' while the pallet 4 is directly over the stop and it may occur, and frequently does happen in the absence of preventive means that while the pallets 4 are in this position, the succeeding pallet 5 reaches the switch and closes the same, thus actuating the stop 6 while the advance pallet 4 is directly above it. This in actual practice causes a number of disadvantages such as wear of the bottom of the pallet, displacement of the pallet relative to the conveyer and undue wear of the stop mechanism. Under such conditions, the stop 6 is prevented, by the present invention, from acting while the advance pallet 4 is above it, by means of a safety switch 21 shown in Figure 3 and shown in detail in Figure 5. This switch also is actuable by pallet and isnormally closed when in its ine active position. The switch21 is placed so close to the stop 6 that when a pallet overlies stop 6, it will'also overlie the switch 21, keeping its contacts open and thereby breaking the circuit so that regardless of the fact that a pallet 4 may be inoperative position relative to the switch 9, at the same time that apallet 5 is overlying the switch 10, the circuit remains unenergized and the stop 6 is not actuated; WVhen two'of the pallets 4 are in close relation as suggested, that is to say one lying above the stop 6 and safety switch 21, while the other lies above the switch 9, and at the same time a pallet 5 is operating the switch 10, the passage of the advance pallet 4 beyond the safety switch releases the latter and the circuit is energized, all three switches being closed. Therefore, the stop 6 is thus actuated and rises up in front of the succeeding pallet 4, detaining the latter.

It is a matter ofexpediency, although not bein material to the invention if the two branch conveyers travel at different rates of associated with the slower moving conveyer, the reason being that in time, when the faster conveyer has gained the distance of one pallet, the slower conveyer has simply failed to deliver ,a pallet, whereas if the stop were placed in relation to the faster moving conveyer, a timecomes when the faster conveyer must deliver two pallets in the space between two pallets on the slower running conveyer. It is to be understood that while the electrical system as described and illustrated refers to a normally open circuit and to switches which close for energizing the solenoid there is nothing peculiar to the invention to limit it tosuch an'open circuit construction, consequently the claims have been couched in such terms as to include a normally closed as well as normally open electrical system.

It will be, observed in Figures 1, 2-and 3 that each of the branch conveyers comprise a pair of continuous traveling members 22 and 23 which may be belts, chains or'the like, across which the pallets are-rested. It is clear that in such a construction, where the two conveyers converge to a common end, the inner or adjacent traveling members 22, 23 terminate at a greater distance from the end of the trunk conveyer 1 than clothe outer or more remote continuous traveling members.

In order, therefore, to bridge the distance between the convergent ends of the adjacent traveling members and the end of the trunk conveyer, an independent traveling -me1nber 24 is provided, substantially bisecting the angle between the two branch conveyers and serving as a common member for both of the conveyers on to which the adjacent ends of the pallets automatically ride in their progress toward the trunk conveyer: The peculiar position of the traveling member 24 causes the pallets to perform a sliding or transverse motion relative to said traveling member.

This necessitates that the surface of said member, which makes contact with the pallets shall be designed to cooperate in response to this sliding motion. For this purpose, the surface of the traveling member 24, which may be a belt or chain, as desired, is furnished with a plurality of rollers 25 which act as forward propelling means for the pallets as well as anti-friction members with respect to these sidewise sliding movements of the pallets. The rollers 25 are mounted upon pins 26 supported horizontally by lugs 27, the latter be ing suitably secured to the belt or chain by suitable means such for example as by the bolts 2.9. The lugs are so disposed that the axes of the pins 26 are directed longitudinally of the direction of motion of the traveling member 24, and said pins are preferably coaxial. In order to yield freely to the sliding sidewise movements of the pallets which vary somewhat in their angularity as the conveyers progress, the rollers 25 are constructed with lateral and radial freedom of movement with respect to their bearings 30, as shown in F igure12 so that said rollers have a slight universal movement with respect to the axes of the pins 26, being thuscapable of rotating substantially in the direction of the sliding sidewise movements of the pallet-s regardless of the angular variations in said movements.

It will be understood that the component of the force with which the rollers propel the pallets forward, that is, in the direction of the trunk conveyer, is positive and unaffected by the lateral and radial lost motion between the rollers and the bearings.

The operation of the invention has been fully described in connection with the vari 'iilo ous structural features, so that it appears to be necessary only to state in conclusion that the pallets may be fed on to the respective branch conveyers without regard to any particular time or spacing relation and that the order in which said pallets will be received on the trunk conveyer is automatically taken care of by the instrumentalities of the invention in manner set forth. It is inevitable that even in the best regulated machinery occurrences sometimes happen that necessitate the interruption of the operation and in the present instance, the automatic operation of the conveyer system is dominated by a manual control represented by the handle 30, Figure 2, by means of which the stop 6 may be thrown into active position regardless of the situation of any of the pallets or the operative condition of any of the control mechanism.

Although I have illustrated my invention in connection with a conveyer system adapted particularly to the handling of bricks, yet it is to be understood that the inventive principle may be equally well applied to the transportation of any other desired object or article.

lVhile I have in the above description defined a practical embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the details of construction as herein specified are merely by way of example and not to be considered limitative and that the scope of the invention is to be determined by a fair interpretation of the terms and intent of the appended claims.

What I desire to claim as my invention is:

1. In a conveyer system comprising convergent branch conveyers delivering at a common point, means to prevent articles traveling on the branch conveyers reaching the common point at the same time, comprising a stop in one branch for inhibiting the progress of an article along said branch, and complementary means in both branches controlling the operation of said stop, upon the actuation at the same time of both said means by articles on the respective branches, the control means in the branch opposite that having the stop, having a greater controlling duration than the means in the other branch, and article actuated safety means in the bunch having the stop for inhibiting the operation of said stop by said complementary control. means, when an article is obstructing the normal movement of said step.

2. In a conveyer system comprising convergent branch conveyers delivering at a com mon point, means to prevent articles travel ing on said branch conveyers reaching the common point at the same time, comprising a stop in one branch for inhibiting the progress of an article along said branch, electrical means for operating said stop, said means being intercalated in a circuit including article actuated control switches arranged in series, one related to each branch conveyer, and so placed as to be actuated at the same time by articles resting on said branch conveyers in potential positions to collide when they shall have reached the common end of said branches, the switch related to the branch conveyer opposite to said stop being constructed to have a longer duration of operation when actuated than the switch'related to the branch having said stop, the latter switch being positioned to be actuated by an article before the article reaches the position of said stop, and a safety switch in said circuit related to the branch having the stop, positioned to be operated by an article on said branch conveyer, when said article is obstructing the normal movement of said stop, for inhibiting the effect on said circuit of the simultaneous actuation of said controlling switches while said article is in stopobstructing position.

8. In a conveyer system comprising convergent branch conveyers delivering at a common point, means to prevent articles traveling on said branch conveyers reaching the common point at the same time, comprising a stop in one branch for inhibiting the progress of an article along said branch, electrical means for operating said stop, said means being intercalated in a circuit includ ing article-actuated control switches arranged in series, one related to each branch conveyer, and so placed as to be actuated at the same time by articles resting on said branch conveyers in potential positions to collide when they shall have reached the common end of said branches, the switch related to the branch conveyer opposite to said stop being constructed to have a longer duration of operation when actuated than the switch related to the branch having said stop, the latter switch being positioned to be actuated by an article before the article reaches the position of said stop, the duration switch comprising a spring supported bar arranged substantially longitudinally of the branch conveyer, and having the upper face thereof lying approximately in the plane of the working surface of the said branch conveyer, and

spaced pairs of switch contacts, the movable contact of each pair being carried by said bar and said pairs of contacts being arranged in parallel relation in said circuit.

a. In a conveyer system, convergent branch conveyers and a trunk conveyer, said branch conveyers comprising spaced continuous traveling members, and coming together adjacent the end of the trunk conveyer, the inner continuous traveling members terminating short of the point where they would intersect, and an additional continuous traveling member bridging the distance between the ends of said inner traveling members and the convergent ends of the outer traveling members, the working face of said additional traveling member comprising a series of rollers having their axes directed longitudinally of said additional traveling member.

I 5. In a conveyer system, convergent branch conveyers and a trunk conveyer, said branch conveyers comprising spaced continuous traveling members, and coming together adjacent the end of the trunk conveyer, the

inner continuous traveling members terminating short of the point where they would intersect, and an additional continuous traveling member bridging the distance between the ends of said inner traveling members and the convergent ends of the outer traveling members, the working face of said additional traveling member comprises a series of rollers having their axes directed longitudinally of said additional traveling member, and

being oscillatable relative to their axes.

6. An anti-friction device for conveyers adapted to permit transverse and diagonal movements of an article on said conveyor while at the same time propellingsaid article,

comprising a pin, a support therefor adapted to secure said pin to the flexible flight of the conveyer, axially in the direction of move-V ment of the conveyer, and a roller journaled on said pin, constructed to have a substantial degree of universal movement relative to said pin.

7. In a system comprising converging branch conveyers, the combination of a stop in one branch, projected by a magnet into the path of a moving article; an article actuated switch in the same branch close to the stop; an article actuated switch in the other branch in series with the first switch and the magnet, positioned to prevent articles reaching the point of convergence at the same time.

8. In a system comprising converging branch conveyers, the combination of a stop in one branch, projected by a solenoid into the path of a moving article; a switch in the same branch, close to the stop, having a member adapting it to be closed by a passing article; and a switch in the other branch; in series with the first switch and the solenoid; having an extended member adapting'it to be closed by a passing article for a longer time than the first switch. a r

In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

ARTHUR DU UY. 

